News & Observer Endorsement

BRAD MILLER The junior member of the Triangle threesome, Brad Miller, 55, is seeking his third term in a district that stretches from inner Raleigh to Greensboro (veering north of Durham). He is a lawyer from Raleigh who served six years in the state Senate before being sent to Washington. His speciality in Congress has been consumer protection. He serves on the House Financial Services Committee and has been active in trying to combat predatory lending. Miller also has championed a reform to help relieve pressure on homeowners caught in the subprime mortgage crisis. He would let bankruptcy judges restructure home loans, just as they can alter the terms of other debts.

Miller is a thoughtful advocate for working Americans caught in the transition to a global economy. A critic of the Iraq war, he says the U.S. must make clear that it plans no long-term occupation.

The Republican candidate is former state Sen. Hugh Webster, 65, of Caswell County. Webster, an accountant, served in the Senate for a dozen years until being defeated in 2006. His familiarity with the tax code has bred contempt -- he calls for its elimination. On the war, he wants the "surge" in Iraq to be replicated in Afghanistan to wipe out terrorists there. Miller has a better grasp of the complexities of governing and is more likely to advance the cause of ordinary Americans struggling to improve their lives.